Colour Changing Leather or Vinyl

Please insure you have ready and understood “Cleaning & Preparing leather” before you attempt to apply colour to your leather or vinyl.

The process for colour changing leather or vinyl is very similar. The only difference being is that you do not use Conditioner on vinyl

Section 1 will cover the colour changing of Leather or Vinyl

Section 1

Colour Changing Leather or VinylDyes will adhere to leather excellently. And to Vinyl with the help of EP.

The application of EP (Extra Prep) is necessary when colour changing so must be used.

Extra prep (EP)
EP 1&2 are mixed together and applied onto leather or Vinyl, either with a sponge, spraying or both. EP provides a solid foundation onto which the dye is applied.

Process

Wipe over with GT18 Leather degreaser and fabric cleaner and dry. This with dry and will not leave a residue. Once you have dried GT18 off then your leather/ Vinyl will be in its cleanest state.

Mix and apply EP (extra Prep) this can be sponged on or sprayed. Do not dilute this product with water. EP Mixing ratios document can be downloaded from our instructions page. Apply first coat of EP and dry. Once dry apply second coat of EP and dry. EP will stay slightly tacky which is what you want. The application of dye onto EP must be done with 2 hours. If you are going to dye a full interior in one go then it is best you apply EP to all leather and then apply at least one coat of dye on top of the EP. Then you can concentrate on one part without worrying about the rest of the interior.
Applying one coat of dye after EP ensures that the dye has excellent grip to the Leather after which you will be applying dye on top of dye. If you run out of time and want to continue the next day then because you have applied one coat of dye over EP you can do this. If you applied EP on NO coats of dye and decided to continue the next day (or after 2 hours) then you will need to start over again and mix/apply EP

Refer to C only if you are colour changing leather NOT vinyl, if you are colour changing vinyl move straight to point D

Dyes are water based and are mixed with water for when you look to recolour your seats. There are a few instances when you will use neat dye. These areas are when the original colour has been completely warn away. Apply neat dye reduces the number of coats on these areas and give a good key for when subsequent diluted coats are applied.
So, before you mix your dye, apply neat dye onto areas where the original colour has been removed, heavy wear, deep scratches, light marks and areas that are cracked. The seat may look a bit of a patchwork of colour but what you are doing is isolating and preparing heavier warn areas for when you dilute and apply dye to the rest of the leather.

After removing, masking up parts that you do not want to get dye on, mix dye with 40% water and filter into a clean container.
If you do not have filter paper then you can stretch some tights over a containers and pour the dye through this.
The first coat of dye that you will apply will be light, you may not see much change but it’s what you cannot see that is the good part.
Dry the first coat and then on the second coat you can apply more dye. With lighter colours you will need to apply more coats than if you were applying darker colours. (remember this when ordering colours)
In-between each coat, dry with a hairdryer and repeat until you get a uniform finish.
Spraying dye is the best way to get a factory matt finish.

Leave the dye and leather to cool. Once cool, if you lightly rub your hand over the finished surface and it feels a little gritty then you can use some 800 wet and dry sand paper (use dry NOT wet) and lightly sand. Wipe the sanding dust off with a damp cloth, dry and apply one last coat.The dye MUST dry and cool before you sand with 800 grit. If you do this whilst still warm the dye can be removed.

If you want to add an extra layer of wear protection, then you can apply GT3 Extra Matt sealer or for gloss GT1 Gloss sealer. Again, mix with 40% water and use the same technique as when applying the dye.

To Summarise:

See Cleaning and preparation Leather or Vinyl

GT18 degreaser

EP (Extra Prep)

Dye

Flexicote colour Accelerant

Bespoke Leathering only use Flexicote as a colour accelerant.
We recommend that Flexicote Colour Accelerant dye are sprayed on. If you want to apply FCA using a sponge then please refer to “ Application of Dye Using a sponge” this can be found on our instruction page.
Flexicote colour accelerant cannot be use for touching in small marks and scratches.
The shelf life for Flexicote colour accelerant is 6 months.
Once Flexicote colour Accelerant has been applied, you must seal with sealer (this is supplied with Flexicote colour Accelerant when purchased)
Flexicote colour accelerant is used in conjunction with the standard repair dyes

FCA (Flexicote Colour Accelerant) has a 3rd more pigment in it than the standard dyes. This means that if you are changing colour or recolouring very heavily stained leather, you can reduce the number of coats you apply to get a uniform finish.

For example:

If you were to change black leather to white you may end up applying 10-12 coats of white dye to get a uniform finish. If FCA is used, you can reduce the number of coats down to approximately 7-8. This not only saves time but also reduces the thickness of dye applied to the leather. You do not have to achieve full coverage, but take the edge of the colour your trying to hide so that when you apply the finished colour you use less coats to get that finish.

FCA does not have to be the exact same colour as the finish colour. As long as its similar it will be good enough for when you apply the finish colour dye.

If you chose this method, then the process for application would be.

See Cleaning and preparation Leather or Vinyl

GT18 degreaser

EP (Extra Prep)

FCA. Flexicote Colour Accelerant

Sealer

Dye

Process

Wipe over with GT18 Leather degreaser and fabric cleaner and dry. This with dry and will not leave a residue. Once you have dried GT18 off then your leather/ Vinyl will be in its cleanest state.

Mix and apply EP (extra Prep) this can be sponged on or sprayed. Do not dilute this product with water. EP Mixing ratios document can be downloaded from our instructions page. Apply first coat of EP and dry. Once dry apply second coat of EP and dry. EP will stay slightly tacky which is what you want. The application of dye onto EP must be done with 2 hours. If you are going to dye a full interior in one go then it is best you apply EP to all leather and then apply at least one coat of dye on top of the EP. Then you can concentrate on one part without worrying about the rest of the interior.
Applying one coat of dye after EP ensures that the dye has excellent grip to the Leather after which you will be applying dye on top of dye. If you run out of time and want to continue the next day then because you have applied one coat of dye over EP you can do this. If you applied EP on NO coats of dye and decided to continue the next day (or after 2 hours) then you will need to start over again and mix/apply EP

**Refer to point I only if you are colour changing leather NOT vinyl, if you are colour changing vinyl move straight to point J**

Flexicote Colour Accelerants are water based are mixed with water for when you look to accelerate the colour change on your seats. There are a few instances when you will use Flexicote colour Accelerants neat. These areas are when the original colour has been completely warn away. Apply neat dye reduces the number of coats on these areas and give a good key for when subsequent diluted coats are applied.
So, before you mix your dye, apply neat dye onto areas where the original colour has been removed, heavy wear, deep scratches, light marks and areas that are cracked. The seat may look a bit of a patchwork of colour but what you are doing is isolating and preparing heavier warn areas for when you dilute and apply dye to the rest of the leather.

After removing, masking up parts that you do not want to get dye on, mix dye with 40% water and filter into a clean container.
If you do not have filter paper then you can stretch some tights over a containers and pour the dye through this.
The first coat of dye that you will apply will be light, you may not see much change but it’s what you cannot see that is the good part.
Dry the first coat and then on the second coat you can apply more dye. With lighter colours you will need to apply more coats than if you were applying darker colours. (remember this when ordering colours)*The difference between FCA dyes and the standard finish dye is that FCA dyes do not dry matt, they stay glossy and a little tacky until a sealer is applied. *
Apply and dry subsequent coats until you get the initial colour change that you are happy with.

Mix the sealer that is supplied with the Flexicote Colour Accelerant with 40% water. You do not have to spray this on (but can if you choose to do so) sponging will be fine. So that you can see you have sealed all the FCA the sealer will dry matt. Once applied and dried FCA you have applied will turn from a gloss to a matt finish and it will also be sealed, meaning you are ok to touch it. The advantage of using a matt sealer is that once dry, it will show up areas of dye that you have not sealed as they will still be gloss in appearance. One full coverage of matt sealer will be enough

Now mix the finish colour you are looking to achieve with 40% water and filter into a clean container.
If you do not have filter paper then you can stretch some tights over a containers and pour the dye through this.
The first coat of dye that you will apply will be light, you may not see much change but it’s what you cannot see that is the good part.
Dry the first coat and then on the second coat you can apply more dye. With lighter colours you will need to apply more coats than if you were applying darker colours. (remember this when ordering colours)
In-between each coat, dry with a hairdryer and repeat until you get a uniform finish.
Spraying dye is the best way to get a factory matt finish.

Leave the dye and leather to cool. Once cool, if you lightly rub your hand over the finished surface and it feels a little gritty then you can use some 800 wet and dry sand paper (use dry NOT wet) and lightly sand. Wipe the sanding dust off with a damp cloth, dry and apply one last coat.*The dye MUST dry and cool before you sand with 800 grit. If you do this whilst still warm the dye can be removed.*

If you want to add an extra layer of wear protection, then you can apply GT3 Extra Matt sealer or for gloss GT1 Gloss sealer

The advice given is guide of how we renovate interiors. The materials and techniques used. If you have any questions about dye application using spray please contact us.